“First!” is the calling card of internet commenters across the globe. It’s a symbol of nonchalant pride and achievement, and an iconic idiom of the age we live in.
Things weren’t always so connected, though. Prior to the 1960’s computers could not communicate with one another. By the late eighties that they became small enough to approach the mainstream market. (As they could now fit inside houses, rather than being the size of them.)
However, it was arguably the turn of the century that witnessed the birth of the information age we know today.
Our modern lives are dominated by our phones. The internet has grown from a quirky technical experiment to the dominant channel for information exchange. Even if that information is just endless streams of instagramed of dogs in fancy dress, viral videos about Daniel’s impressive trainers, and Twitter updates on breakfasts across the world. Crucially, the internet is now with us wherever we go.
Last month Twitter turned ten, and a whole host of once innovative apps and sites are beginning to show their age. Start-ups have become dominant cultural media channels, influencing everything from the language we use to the opinions we are exposed to. Not bad for a few lines of code.
